


The Children

by jlovesallfandoms



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 7x06 spoilers, D&D has sent Winterfell's storyline to shit, F/M, Jon/Dany not in the spotlight, MAINLY arya/gendry, kinda slow burn?, season 7, so here i am, very much on the sisterly relationship of the starks as well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 20:58:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11836929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jlovesallfandoms/pseuds/jlovesallfandoms
Summary: Gendry is sent to Winterfell with the orders to forge dragonglass for the war to come. Arya is forced to face a man of her past.OR D&D has sent the Winterfell story to shit so here I am supporting the Stark sisters in their journey to their goals.





	The Children

**Author's Note:**

> I DO NOT believe that Arya would so readily accuse and attack her sister right after she returns home to Winterfell. I am a strong supporter of both Stark sisters, but I really don't think Arya, a woman who has learned to fight and trick assassins without sight, would be so easily fooled by Littlefinger.
> 
> I was also very excited by Gendry's return (finally!) and was excited to write this fic of "what if" he was found after meeting Jon in the caves, and was sent to Winterfell instead of joining Jon on his quest beyond the wall.

The grand doors opened, and he was shoved into the dark and desolate throne room with his hands chained, a Dothraki rider on each side of him. Ser Davos and the Stark bastard trailed behind, each man out of breath from the string of pleas to set him free. Now, they stood in front of him as if to protect him, as if it would mean anything to the dragon queen.

“You have brought the son of the Usurper to my own keep, thinking you could just sneak him away?” The queen looked down at Gendry with burning disgust, her bright eyes alit with fire. Gendry did not dare to reply. Instead, she turned to the dwarf who stood at her right hand side. “Tyrion, you assure me that this is him?”

The dwarf walked closer to Gendry and managed to pick his chin to his own height as Melisandre once did. Tyrion studied Gendry’s every feature, but solemnly nodded once he stared at his eyes.

“This is the very image of the young Robert Baratheon, Your Grace.”

The queen took a deep breath and rose from her jagged throne and stalked towards Gendry herself. With each step closer, Gendry refused to flinch.

“So this is the son of the man who killed my father and brought my family’s dynasty to an end, the man whose presence forced me to live my life in hiding, the man who sent an assassin for me and my unborn child.” With each list of his father’s sins, the queen managed to stand as if she were double his own height.

“Your Grace,” Jon spoke, sensing the rising tensions. “Gendry is not a threat to you, or to your crown. He is only a bastard who did not choose his father.”

The queen looked back at Jon as if she heard the unspoken words, _like you_.

“And how can you trust this man so easily?” The queen frowned, but her fury was temporarily tamed as she tried to listen to the man’s reason.

“We spoke briefly in the caves containing dragonglass. He does not intend to smite you, he wants to travel with me to capture a wight.”

“A man can say that he wishes for peace, but what will happen when I seize the Iron Throne, the same throne that his own father stole? Will he one day rebel, will his children have a claim, will the people rise to him?”

“ _My queen,_ ” Gendry instantly dropped to the floor on his knees, kneeling at the feet of Daenerys Targaryen. He has had enough of highborns talking as if he wanted the damned throne, and plotting for his life. How could anyone ever want the cursed thing? He could remember his sweet mother singing him a lullaby, and the strange men that took him to Tobho Mott after her death. He was only a pawn in their games, a game he never asked to be a part of. “I have spent four years of my life in hiding because of the Lannisters, not knowing if I would live the next day if a gold cloak was ever to find me. I swear to never take the throne, and I swear my allegiance to you.”

The queen stared down at him, carefully calculating his next move. He did not dare to rise.

“From what Lord Varys has told me, you have spent the past few years _forging_ swords for the Lannister army.” Daenerys spoke coldly, not allowing herself to trust the bastard at her feet.

“I did what I had to do to survive, Your Grace.” Gendry continued to stare at the floor. No one spoke.

“Gendry,” the eunuch spoke, “I take it that while in King’s Landing, before leaving for the Night’s Watch, you were an apprentice under Tobho Mott?”

Gendry almost laughed. He never left for the Night’s Watch. He clearly remembered the day, soon after the Hand of the King visited him. Tobho Mott simply told him that he was no longer wanted, or needed in the forge. He was told he did not have the skill, and after years of apprenticeship, was forced away for the Night’s Watch recruits leaving for the Wall.

“Yes, m’lord.” Gendry replied as he learned to do in the presence of highborns. The dwarf’s face was instantly lit, as if he was struck with an epiphany.

“Your Grace, Tobho Mott was the only man in King’s Landing known to forge Valyrian Steel. I do not know if Valyrian Steel and dragonglass are directly connected, but Lord Snow needs a good smith to forge the newly mined dragonglass. Let this bastard be his ward, under the watch of House Stark”

The queen looked from her advisors then to Jon, as if asking him if he trusted this decision. She asked Gendry if this information was true, if he was taught to forge Valyrian Steel, and Gendry nodded.

“Very well.” Daenerys rose her chin and asked for Gendry to rise. She met him with a cold gaze, and he stared at her as well, the shadow of their fathers behind them in that moment. “I will allow you, Gendry, to take what Jon Snow has managed to mine to the Winterfell forge. You will be in Winterfell forging swords of dragonglass, but essentially my ward until Jon Snow follows your lead and bends the knee.”

He knew he was truly her prisoner until she found a better use of him. He would never escape the shadow of his father’s sins in the eyes of a Targaryen, but this future was one he had to make peace with. He was the last living Baratheon, which made him a viable pawn in their games. Very well. If he had to be a part of the highborns’ war for the throne, at least he would be in the North, at least he was finally taking the fight to the Lannisters, to the wights, and actively accepting his role in their plots. He was a smith, a warrior, and a stranger. He bent the knee again as the queen listened to him swear his allegiance to her a final time. A ghost of a smile haunted his lips. He was finally forging swords for the king in the north, as an old friend once begged him to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if Dany's characterization seemed a bit off, this was my first time really writing her, and writing her from the point of view of her captive as well. 
> 
> This is only the prologue, so in the next chapter, Gendry arrives at Winterfell.


End file.
